The White House on Saturday denied a report by The New York Times alleging chief of staff Susie Wiles advised Vice President Vance to step back from social media, calling it “complete fake news.”
“This isn’t true,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on the social platform X, in response to a post from Jewish Insider editor-in-chief Josh Kraushaar, who shared the Times report on X. “We denied it to the New York Times and they refused to run our quote. Complete fake news. This supposed ‘conversation’ never happened.”
The Times reported Saturday that Wiles and other senior White House officials had advised Vance to “take a break from social media,” citing his frequent online battles with critics as “beneath his office.”
The claim appeared in a broader story about Vance’s relationship with President Trump and his prospects as a contender for the Republican nomination in the 2028 presidential election.
The story did include a statement from Cheung, who defended the relationship between Trump and Vance.
“Vice President Vance has done a remarkable job of helping implement the president’s America First agenda,” Cheung told the Times. “Any false media narratives from unknown and unnamed sources fabricating stories clearly do not have any knowledge of the truth.”
Trump adviser Alex Bruisewitz labeled the reporting as “Vance Derangement Syndrome.”
“Steven Cheung has stated clearly in the article and reiterated on X that this is completely fake news,” Bruisewitz wrote on X. “JD Vance is an exceptionally effective communicator and invaluable member of President Trump’s Team. Vance Derangement Syndrome is real, folks.”
Both Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have emerged as early potential frontrunners for the Republican nomination in 2028. New polling on a hypothetical Republican primary put the two administration officials neck and neck as discussions swirl over who could lead the party in the post-Trump era.
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